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General Director David Gockley’s final season features some of his favorites: Verdi’s Don Carlo, Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, Janáček’s Jenůfa and a new production of Carmen. Secure your seats and subscribe today!

San Francisco Opera invites you and your family to attend FREE screenings of our Opera-in-an-Hour Movies presented throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. To learn about where you can catch a screening of our family friendly operas, click here.

And this is no run of the mill, 8 week and then you are done, showmance. This one will go the distance. The difficulty of this showmance is that it involves more than one artist and I am afraid that when Nixon in Chinafinishes its run here in San Francisco, I may be thrown into a fit of post-show depression that I can’t climb out of.

When I accepted the role of Richard Nixon a few years ago, I knew it was going to be the most challenging assignment of my career. Taking on Nixon in China, the brilliant opera by John Adams, was a daunting task for so many reasons, but the obstacle that would challenge me most was that of becoming the iconic colossus, Richard Nixon.

Did you know we are presenting Nixon in China in the 40th anniversary year of the historic visit? In the Education Department we don't often find ourselves discussing an opera based on an actual event, especially a recent one! So I decided to do some studying...

We all do it. You're out with friends, having dinner or going to a show or having a drink after work. What are the chances that someone in the group will pull out a smartphone and snap a picture to put on Facebook or Twitter? We like to show our friends and family what we are doing and we like to have something to help us remember a fun evening out. If this sounds like something you've done (or even if you haven't...yet) then our Snap & Post to Win contest is going to be the easiest drawing you've ever entered! Want the chance to win a fantastic night out—dinner and a show at San Francisco Opera? Read on.

Nixon in China is one of a handful of operas that mean the most to me. I first heard Nixon when I was at Dartmouth College in the spring of '94 during an opera survey class. The professor only played the "News" aria, but that was all I needed to hear, I was hooked. I instantly bought the recording and played it all day every day and when I finally got the score many years later, it revealed a whole new dimension to the music that I could finally play and sing to myself.

Introduction

Backstage at San Francisco Opera is a fascinating, fast-moving, mysterious and sacred space for the Company’s singers, musicians, dancers, technicians and production crews. Musical and staging rehearsals are on-going, scenery is loaded in and taken out, lighting cues are set, costumes and wigs are moved around and everything is made ready to receive the audience. From the principal singers, chorus and orchestra musicians to the creative teams for each opera, in addition to the many talented folks who don’t take a bow on stage, this blog offers unique insight, both thought-provoking and light-hearted, into the life backstage at San Francisco Opera.